@BRYAN LUTZ Dang it Bryan!

Only one of our names would go on the contract w seller, but for title the invoice would be broken up between us for our assignments.

Dang.

The current one keeps hitting us with a few hundred here, a few hundred there for repairs, but will not provide copies of the invoices.

But like you allude to, it's dang hard to be able to find them, especially if you are not doing real estate investing full time or are just starting out.

If the total spent on utilities exceeds contributions, we invoice the tenant for the difference {this has only happened twice}.In the instance of water and sewer, this allows us to ensure no lien is ever established, but to have the tenants pay for their use.

When the investor refers the lead, they submit an invoice for their costs associated with obtaining that lead.

He does invoicing through QuickBooks and everything is done legit. 

@Timothy VanWingerdenEven if a particular unit is in service does not necessarily mean that all expenses can be currently deductible.You must then determine if the payment was a repair(currently expensed) or a capital improvement(capitalized).There are certain safe harbors/exceptions/elections that allow a capital improvement to then be currently expensed.Have you provided a detailed invoice for all repairs/improvements to your accountant?

IRS audits you and ask for backup invoices for the expense.